Watts Township supervisor faces 3 election fraud charges

A case alleging election fraud on the part of Watts Twp. Supervisor Franklin Poust is making its way through the Perry County Court of Common Pleas.

During the call of the list on May 12, the case was continued to the next court term.

Poust faces three misdemeanor charges of false signatures, nomination petitions and false swearing stemming from the March 2013 primary election.

Poust, according to a private criminal complaint filed by Dr. Pat Gutheil, is alleged to have tried to unseat fraudulently in the primary, swore falsely that he was not running for an office he currently held.

District Attorney Charles Chenot said that during the run up to the primary, the election board fielded several inquiries regarding Poust's election petition.

"Nobody could put their thumb on what was wrong with this but everyone said it didn't feel right. It wasn't until after the primary that someone nailed this down and by that time any harm had already been done."

Poust claims he never intended to campaign for the office. He submitted his nomination petitions merely to show young people how easy it is to run for public office. Poust believes that younger people need to be involved in local politics. "My thought was to show them how simple and easy it is to get your name on the ballot."

He does, however, acknowledge that "I signed a paper that I didn't read completely."

Gutheil contends these are the admissions of a "caught man," and that in e-mail correspondence with her, Poust said he was running "to teach me a lesson."

"A number of people from the township contacted me, including the other supervisor directly affected," Chenot said. "There was a delay of a couple of months while I figured out how to file charges. There is no local police department, and the state police were not interested."

In the end, Chenot said, Gutheil filed a criminal complaint, with the technical assistance of the district attorney's office.

At the time of the primary, Poust was in the second year of a six-year term on the Watts Twp. Board of Supervisors and Gutheil was standing for her first re-election as she finished her first term on the board.

Gutheil said she served a cordial first year and supported Poust's nomination for board chairman. But during the next reorganizational meeting, she supported Karl Raudensky as chairman "which absolutely incensed Frank," she said.

The relationship among the supervisors has been so tense that state police have attended the last seven or eight township supervisors meetings to ensure order, Gutheil said.

If Poust was attempting to unseat Gutheil, he failed, miserably. She out-polled him 112-3 in the Republican primary.

He claims he never campaigned for the post and that he encouraged people to vote for Gutheil. "I even put a re-elect Pat sign in my yard during the election," he said.

Gutheil acknowleged that Poust placed the sign and sported a T-shirt that said "vote for Pat." But these were last-ditch efforts on the eve of the primary after Gutheil circulated a letter to the electorate accusing Poust of election malfeasance, she said.